Incompetent car service centres in Malaysia; Quality and standard need to be regulated!

PETALING JAYA: Malaysians are getting increasingly dissatisfied with the quality of service provided by authorised vehicle service centres.

The J.D. Power Asia Pacific 2014 Malaysia Customer Service Index (CSI) study also found that the expectations of vehicle owners increased since last year. (see below).

Overall satisfaction among new Malaysian car owners slipped three points from last year’s score to 754 out of 1000, the study revealed.

Satisfaction with service provided by Malaysian national brands dipped below the overall average to 744 points, down five points from last year.

On the other hand, the study found that customers expected more from these service centres, compared to the year before.

“The study identified 22 service standards that enhance the overall customer service experience. Customer expectations in 2013 were for service centres to meet 17 of the 22 standards,” stated the study.

“In 2014, customers expected a minimum of 19 of those 22 standards to be met in order to have a positive service experience.”

The study also found that additional services improved customer satisfaction, such as washing and vacuuming vehicles at the completion of the service and making follow-up phone calls to customers after service had been completed.

It stated, however, that only 14% of mass market customers had their service centres carry these out.

Toyota ranked highest in overall customer service satisfaction with a score of 777, followed by Nissan at 776, while Isuzu and Mazda tied for third place at 775.

The study ranks the satisfaction of new vehicle owners on the service offered by these authorised centres in five areas: service quality (38%); vehicle pick-up (20%); service initiation (14%); service advisor (14%); and service facility (14%).

“Brands need to focus on the entire process – from helping customers secure service appointments, to providing top-quality services, to faster service turnaround times, to having friendly and knowledgeable service advisors – all of which contribute to overall customer satisfaction,” said J.D. Power country head Rajaswaran Tharma­lingam.

“Customers have higher expectations, so it’s vital that the automakers’ service centres strive to not only meet, but also exceed those expectations to deliver a satisfying experience for their customers,” he said.

The study measures the overall satisfaction level among vehicle owners who have taken their vehicle to any authorised service centre for maintenance or repair works during the first two years of ownership.

Contributed by P. Aruna & Tashny Sukumaran

Fomca: Quality of service centres need to be regulated

PETALING JAYA: The quality of vehicle service centres need to be regulated, either by the industry itself or by relevant authorities, said Fomca.

“We are also receiving an increasing number of complaints over the poor quality of service provided at vehicle service centres as well as on the quality of the vehicles.

“The industry needs to look at itself and make improvements.

“Malaysians are not getting a fair deal,” said Fomca secretary-general Datuk Paul Selvaraj.

He was commenting on the latest J.D. Power Asia Pacific 2014 Malaysia Customer Service Index (CSI) Study which found that the public’s overall satisfaction had slipped three points from last year’s score of 754 out of 1000.

“The findings of the survey is the reflection of the quality of service being provided.”

An engineer, K. Ramesh took his one-year-old car to an authorised service centre after experiencing some problems.

“My car started jerking. I took it to the centre twice but they could not figure out what was wrong.

“They finally said I would have to change the fuel pump and asked me to wait two weeks until they purchased the part. Then, they asked me to leave my car with them for a week for troubleshooting,” said the 29-year old.

Before sending the car in, Ramesh decided to check with several online forums, and found a simple solution shared by other car owners.

“I tried it and managed to fix it by myself in less that two hours.

“Because of their incompetence, I was given the runaround and would have had to be without a car for a whole week,” he said.

Another car owner, Eric Chia, 27, waited two hours before the centre started servicing his car despite having made an appointment a day earlier.

“I waited two hours before realising that others who came in after me had their cars attended to first.

“When I asked the customer service advisor, he said it was his mistake and apologised,” he said.

To make things worse, the service, which was supposed to take an hour, took three hours to complete.

“I thought they did a thorough job, a month later, my air conditioner was blowing warm air and my engine mounting was loose.

“I had to send my car in again before they finally fixed the problem,” he said.

Contributed by P. Aruna The Star/Asia News Network

J.D. Power Asia Pacific Reports: Well-Informed Customers in Malaysia Have High Expectations for Customer Service

Likely due to cars are expensive in Malaysia, customers are expecting better service when they take their vehicles in for service or repairs, and authorized service centers are not meeting those expectations, according to the J.D. Power Asia Pacific 2014 Malaysia Customer Service Index (CSI) StudySM released.
The study, now in its 12th year, measures overall service satisfaction among owners who took their vehicle to an authorized service center for service maintenance and/ or repair work during the first 12 to 24 months of ownership. For the first time, the 2014 study examines service satisfaction exclusively on the mass market segment.

Toyota ranks highest in overall customer service satisfaction among mass market brands, with a score of 777. Toyota performs particularly well in the service facility factor. Nissan ranks second with a score of 776, while Isuzu and Mazda rank third in a tie at 775 each.

The study evaluates new-vehicle owner satisfaction with the service experience by examining dealership performance in five factors: service quality (38%); vehicle pick-up (20%); service initiation (14%); service advisor (14%); and service facility (14%). Satisfaction among mass market brands averages 754 index points (on a 1,000-point scale) in 2014, which is a 3-point decline from 2013.

The study identifies 22 service standards that enhance the overall customer service experience. In 2014, customers expect a minimum of 19 of those 22 standards to be met in order to have a positive service experience. In comparison, customer expectations in 2013 were for service centers to meet 17 of the 22 service standards. On average, authorized service centers are implementing 18.1 standards per service visit in 2014.

“Customers have higher expectations, so it’s vital that the automakers’ service centers strive to not only meet, but also to exceed those expectations to deliver a satisfying experience for their customers,” said Rajaswaran Tharmalingam, country head, Malaysia, J.D. Power Asia Pacific. “Brands need to focus on the entire service process—from helping customers secure service appointments, to providing top-quality services, to faster service turnaround times, to having friendly and knowledgeable service advisors—all of which contribute to overall customer satisfaction.”

The study also finds there are additional services some service centers provide that also improve customer satisfaction, such as washing and vacuuming vehicles at the completion of the service and making follow-up phone calls to customers after service is performed. Currently, only 14 percent of mass market customers indicate their service center delivered on both of these services, among whom satisfaction is 797, compared with 729 among customers whose service center did not deliver on both those standards.